


Leading a Double Life

by link621



Category: Yami No Matsuei
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-09-05
Updated: 2004-09-05
Packaged: 2017-11-25 10:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/link621/pseuds/link621
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsuzuki fears that Hisoka may have a secret lover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leading a Double Life

Hisoka stared at the small bundle, huddled pathetically in the rain.  
  
He couldn’t just leave her there.  
  
It went against almost every shred of his character, but he had to do it. He lifted the trembling creature into his hands and carried her delicately back his apartment in the pouring rain.  
  
\---  
  
Tsuzuki walked in the door right on schedule—at least twenty minutes late—with a broad grin on his face and a cinnamon raison bagel in one hand, a coffee mug in the other. “Good morning!” He called. As always, everyone but Terazuma and Hisoka responded enthusiastically, always glad to see the goofy but endearing Shinigami.  
  
“You’re late,” Tatsumi scolded half-heartedly with a warm smile.  
  
“Sorry,” Tsuzuki said. He wasn’t sorry at all. They went through this ritual every morning. Next, Tatsumi would brush non-existent crumbs from Tsuzuki’s check.  
  
As predicted, Tatsumi reached up a hand, brushing the backs of his fingers over and around Tsuzuki’s lips. “You eat like a child.”  
  
“Thank you, Tatsumi.” Tsuzuki smiled coyly before moving on, headed toward his desk.   
  
As he passed Terazuma’s desk, they both took a moment to whisper something equally insulting and profane to one another while Wakaba scolded her partner for being rude. He rolled his eyes, going back to his paperwork, but Tsuzuki knew that Terazuma was enjoying the attention.  
  
And now came Tsuzuki’s favorite part of the day—the moment when Hisoka had no choice but to pay attention to him, at least for a moment, because he was late, and deserved to be scolded. Tsuzuki put on his best winning smile as he sat on the edge of his desk. “Good morning, Hisoka.”  
  
“Yeah,” Hisoka responded non-commitally, not even looking up from what he was doing. He had a piece of paper held under one hand, and was making a list. It almost looked like a grocery list and a to-do list combined into one.   
  
“Hisoka—do you really like tuna that much? If I’d known, I would have made you this great dish my sister taught me how to make…”  
  
“Some other time, Tsuzuki,” Hisoka muttered, dismissing the thought entirely as he chewed lightly on the eraser of the pencil. He tapped the pencil once against his lips, and added another item to the list.  
  
“Do you really eat that much food?” Tsuzuki asked, leaning in closer.  
  
“No. I have… company.” Hisoka still didn’t look up at Tsuzuki, he was so engrossed in what he was doing. Tsuzuki frowned deeply, putting together the items on the list. Whoever it was that Hisoka had staying over, they sure were demanding of his attention.  
  
Then, the thought hit him—why would Hisoka have company? He was dead—the only friends he had were other shinigami. Why would he ever have company in his house; unless it was Minase Hijiri?  
  
Tsuzuki gasped dramatically, finally drawing Hisoka’s attention. Noticing that the man was reading over the list, Hisoka quickly covered it. “Tsuzuki, don’t you have work to do or something?” Hisoka asked shortly.  
  
Tsuzuki was too busy examining Hisoka to respond. How had he not noticed before? Hisoka looked exhausted. There was dark circles forming under his eyes and his hair was more unruly than normal. And, unless Tsuzuki’s eyes were betraying him, there were a few short, dark hairs on Hisoka’s shirt.  
  
Hisoka was having an affair! Hisoka was cheating on him! Well, not really, because they weren’t together, but how could he?  
  
Tsuzuki sniffled. Hisoka blinked at him. “Tsuzuki, what’s with you? You’re acting so weird today.”  
  
“You didn’t even yell at me for being late!” Tsuzuki cried, moodily taking a bite from his bagel.  
  
Hisoka glanced at his watch. “Oh god—I didn’t realize it was so late.” Hisoka grabbed the paper and his jacket from the back of the chair. “I’ve been here for a few hours, already. I’ve got to go home and run some errands—I’ll be back by lunch.” Hisoka raced out the door without another word.  
  
Tsuzuki just stared after him, amazed, with a bagel hanging out of the corner of his mouth.  
  
\---  
  
Tsuzuki had spent all day trying to think of ways that things could be worse. His first thought was that he could have found out that Hisoka was actually working as a double agent for Muraki. Which led to his relief that Hisoka wasn’t having the affair with Muraki. Then he had realized that if Hisoka could be having an affair with Hijiri, he could be having an affair with Muraki.   
  
Then Tatsumi had called a staff meeting. Tatsumi said nothing when Hisoka walked in ten minutes late. Did Tatsumi already know? Had Hisoka confided in Tatsumi?  
  
Or was Hisoka’s secret affair actually with Tatsumi?  
  
When Tsuzuki thought about it, he realized that he didn’t remember seeing Tatsumi after the secretary greeted Tsuzuki at the door. What if Tatsumi had also left the office when Hisoka did, and they had gone back to Hisoka’s house? Maybe that’s why both Hisoka and Tatsumi always came into the office so early?   
  
Tsuzuki’s eyes were spinning by the time the staff meeting was over. For the first time, he was elated to have been assigned a mission where he would be staying in a hotel with Hisoka. He would be able to keep track of his partner that way—or, at least he would know if Hijiri, Muraki, or Tatsumi came to visit his partner at night.  
  
So it was to his great disappointment, come nine in the evening, when he exited the bathroom, fresh out of the shower, to see Hisoka fully dressed to leave. “I’ve got some things to do. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” Hisoka then disappeared in front of his eyes.  
  
Tsuzuki just stared, gaping at the spot where Hisoka had been, looking rather ridiculous walking around in just a towel. In fact, the towel had been part of his plan, at first, to try to seduce Hisoka away from whatever lover he was embracing.  
  
The towel had never failed before.  
  
\---  
  
Every night of their mission it was the same. Hisoka would leave before Tsuzuki went to sleep, and when he woke up, Hisoka would look dead tired, as though he hadn’t slept a wink. Of course, Hisoka would still do his job—and well—but Tsuzuki almost couldn’t wait for the case to be over just so he could devote some time to investigating further what Hisoka was doing.  
  
And, when that night finally came, they were both at the office until the wee hours of the morning writing up their report. Come three in the morning, Hisoka looked one foot in the grave, so Tsuzuki suggested they call it a night, and offered to walk Hisoka home. When Hisoka protested, Tsuzuki insisted that Hisoka was in no shape to be walking alone at night—and that anything could happen.  
  
Tsuzuki didn’t dare mention Muraki—that name always went unspoken but understood between them. Of course, if Muraki was Hisoka’s lover, he had nothing to worry about.  
  
Tsuzuki needed to know. He finally got Hisoka to give in, purely because the boy didn’t have the energy to protest, and they teleported to a remote alley in Tokyo and started walking.  
  
Hisoka had, at first, seemed tense, but as they walked, he began to walk a little closer to Tsuzuki, almost leaning toward him as a moth slowly circles closer to the flame. “It isn’t raining tonight,” Hisoka commented. “Every other night for the past few weeks, it’s rained about this time.”  
  
Tsuzuki nodded solemnly. “Hisoka—I wanted to ask you what you’ve been doing out so late. Is there something going on that you want to tell me about?”  
  
“It’s nothing,” Hisoka said grimly. “I mean—there’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”   
  
They reached his doorstep, and Hisoka fumbled with his keys for a moment before finding the right one and sliding it into the lock. The second the door was unlocked, Tsuzuki shoved past his partner, taking advantage of the fact that Hisoka was dead tired, and burst into the apartment. Though it was faint over the shout of protest from Hisoka, he could hear a noise coming from the bedroom, so he darted in that direction before Hisoka could stop him.  
  
He was ready for anything, he told himself, but he was wrong.  
  
There was mewling. And there were kittens.   
  
A large black cat was sleeping on the pillow at the head of the bed, and three small kittens, no more than a couple weeks old were in a basket just bellow the pillow, mewling softly. Their eyes were still squinting, and they had very disproportionate bodies with overly small ears and large feet. Each was mostly black, but all of them had some white features—either on their feet or face or tail, somewhere.  
  
Tsuzuki’s heart melted. He walked along the edge of the bed, settling next to the basket to look down at the kittens, but not touch. The mother cat lazily opened an eye at him, but didn’t seem to mind his presence, so long as he wasn’t touching. Tsuzuki noted with just a touch of amusement that her eyes were a vibrant green.  
  
“Tsuzuki—don’t touch them,” Hisoka ordered, storming into the room.  
  
Despite the silent warning of the mother, and Hisoka’s stern warning, Tsuzuki picked out one of the kittens and gently cradled it’s small body, careful to support it’s minute structure. “Hisoka—they’re adorable,” Tsuzuki cooed softly, feeling the downy soft fur wriggling in his hands and the kitten adjusted to be more comfortable. “Do they have names?”  
  
“I told you not to touch them,” Hisoka said, coming to sit next to Tsuzuki on the bed. He looked a little closer to inspect the one in Tsuzuki’s hands. “And that one’s Riko.” He blushed, looking down at his feet. “The other two don’t have names yet. And… I named their mom Ruka—for your sister. I thought it would be a nice name.”  
  
Tsuzuki’s heart beat a little faster, and he smiled brightly at Riko. “It’s nice to meet you, Riko.” The kitten seemed perfectly happy to just curl up in his hands, purring like a motorboat. For such a small creature, the noise was shockingly loud.  
  
“You weren’t supposed to know,” Hisoka muttered.  
  
“I’m so relieved,” Tsuzuki said, gently placing Riko back into the basket. “I thought all this time that you were seeing someone secretly.”  
  
“Seeing someone?” Hisoka looked confused. “Tsuzuki, I’ve heard a lot of dumb things in my life—especially from you—but how does that brain of yours even jump to that conclusion?”   
  
“Well…” Tsuzuki grinned. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.” He looked back to the kittens. “Oh—they’re precious. Hey, Hisoka, are you planning on giving them up for adoption? If you are—then I’ll take one.”  
  
“No.” Hisoka’s voice was definite. Tsuzuki was startled. “No, these are mine, and I will raise them.”  
  
“Then I’ll come visit,” Tsuzuki suggested.  
  
“No,” Hisoka said again, this time sounding almost panicked.   
  
“Then I’ll move in.”  
  
“N—Tsuzuki!” Hisoka was blushing again. “What kind of stupid suggestion is that? I’m not letting you live here!” Hisoka was looking weary again. He obviously needed sleep, though apparently getting Tsuzuki away from the cats took precedence.  
  
Tsuzuki looked back at the cats. “But they’re just so cute! Oh, I love them already!” And, he really did. They made his heart ache with joy. Those three small lives meant so much to him, and he had just met them. They mewled back to his words reassuringly. “See, Hisoka, they want me to stay, too.”  
  
“Tsuzuki… why were you relieved?” Hisoka asked suddenly. “I mean—wouldn’t you be happy if I was seeing someone? Don’t you want me to be happy?”  
  
Tsuzuki blinked at his partner. “Oh—um, I do.” He smiled at Hisoka. “But, I’m just really glad that it’s cats—because I know they’re making you happy and…”  
  
“I meant a romantic relationship,” Hisoka interrupted.  
  
Tsuzuki frowned, putting a hand to Hisoka’s shoulder. “I’d only like that if…” he smiled, though it felt a little forced. His heart continued to ache in his chest, pounding against his ribs. “I’d only like that if you were with me.”  
  
Hisoka blinked at him very slowly. “I’m hearing things,” he declared robotically. “ It must be because I’m so tired. I could have sworn you just said you wanted me to be happy in a relationship, but you’d only be happy if that relationship was with you.”   
  
“Hisoka, I really…”  
  
“Don’t say it,” Hisoka said, putting up a hand to cut Tsuzuki off. “I’m really tired right now. I don’t want to know. I just want to go to bed.” With that said, Hisoka stood, going to the other side of the bed, and got under the covers without even removing his jacket. “Tsuzuki… it’s okay with me if you want to come see the kittens again.”  
  
Tsuzuki looked back to the kittens that were now settling in to sleep just as Hisoka had. Their mother was making a spot for herself amongst her kittens in the basket, curling up between their small bodies.  
  
Tsuzuki nodded. “I will come back. We can order carry out tomorrow when I come over.”  
  
Hisoka blushed. “Um—tomorrow is sort of soon. I meant you could come back in a couple weeks. Once every couple months, maybe.”  
  
Tsuzuki shook his head. “Nope—I’m going to come every night and make sure you get sleep.” That was true, though he did have the ulterior motives of the very cute kittens now peacefully resting in the basket.  
  
“Go home, Tsuzuki,” Hisoka murmured, though he was clearly too tired to manage much else. Tsuzuki smiled at the order, and leaned over the bed, kissing Hisoka’s forehead. To his surprise, his partner didn’t retaliate. In fact, Hisoka’s eyes slowly closed, and he drifted off to sleep.  
  
Tsuzuki glanced once more at the kittens, briefly contemplating stealing one for his own now that his partner was asleep, before showing himself out. This way, if Hisoka kept them, he would have a great excuse to see more of his partner.  
  
\---  
  
Tsuzuki came into the office right on schedule—thirty-five minutes late.   
  
He made a beeline for his desk, avoiding everyone in the office in the process. He flopped into his chair, barely registering that his partner sat beside him, before flopping over the desk, resting his head on the desk so he could sleep.  
  
“You’re late,” Hisoka grumbled.  
  
“Uh-huh,” Tsuzuki replied sleepily.  
  
Hisoka put something on Tsuzuki’s desk with a metallic clack. “That’s for you.” Tsuzuki opened his eyes, surprised to see a small golden key near his face. “If you want to be able to come any time you want, you’re going to need that.” Hisoka wasn’t looking at him, instead devoting his attention to their report that needed to be finished, still.  
  
Tsuzuki yawned, smiling. “Thank you, Hisoka.”  
  
Hisoka rolled his eyes. “Don’t bother to come to work if you’re going to sleep,” he scolded.  
  
A few minutes passed. Tsuzuki fell silent and his breathing evened out. Hisoka glanced at him out of the corner of his eye—Tsuzuki really did appear to be asleep. So, Hisoka reached out with his empathy and confirmed that. Hisoka faced Tsuzuki, brushing the man’s bangs away from his forehead, and leaned down to give him a light kiss.


End file.
